You were appointed Tanzania’s first High Commissioner to post-apartheid South Africa following the country’s attainment of an African majority government. Briefly take us through that moment.
It was quite an exciting moment and the culmination of my long involvement in the liberation struggle in Southern Africa in general and South Africa in particular. As you know, the only job in my life has been in the diplomatic service. It was a historical moment because our main focus at that time was the liberation struggle, and liberating South Africa became part of my professional life way before I was appointed High Commissioner. I remember back in 1977 I was assigned to New Zealand, partly for training but also to mobilize international support to boycott sports like rugby, which was quite an emotive issue for both countries. We were trying to isolate South Africa by breaking these [sports] ties, which were critical at the time. We then went on to conduct arms embargo campaigns and economic sanctions against the apartheid regime.
